Beer Calendar: IPA Day, Food Pairings, Brewery Birthdays and…Pumpkin Beer?

Originally published in August 2015, view original article here.

Denver’s new-brewery scene continues at a quick boil, and there are several breweries-in-planning ramping up construction for 2015 openings. One of those is Cerebral Brewing, which took possession of its beer-making equipment last week and is building out the taproom now. To get the word out, Cerebral has kicked off an Instagram photo contest throughout August to find out what kinds of events people would like to see at the brewery once it begins pouring (hopefully this fall sometime). “Cards Against Humanity tournaments? Mystery Science Theater on the projector? You tell us,” the brewery says. “All you need to do is snap a photo relating to your idea (or of just about anything – as long as it’s awesome), tag us (@CerebralBrewing) and include the #MyBrightIdea hashtag. Then give a brief description of your idea in the caption. Easy peasy. We’re even throwing in some rad prizes to make it worth your while.” Prizes include hats, t-shirts, stickers and the like. Get all the rest of the details at cerebralbrewing.com.

Wednesday, August 5
It’s exotic cask month at the Copper Kettle, and the beers have been inspired by “the tropical fruits and beverages we all wish we were enjoying on a beach,” the brewery says. Today’s is Mojito Blonde, a traditional American blonde ale with mint and lime. The Pavys food truck will be on hand serving gourmet sandwiches.

Crooked Stave will release bottles of Nightmare on Brett aged in Leopold Bros. Whiskey barrels today at 6 p.m. Nightmare on Brett (9.666 percent ABV) is a Dark Sour Ale. This is the sixth version of this beer. Bottles are $12 each.

Thursday, August 6
No, it’s not pumpkin season. It’s not even close. Still, Dry Dock Brewing will will debut the 2015 version of Imperial Pumpkin Ale at noon today in the Canoe Room at North Dock in Aurora. The beer will be available in bombers and on draft.

Comrade Brewing will tap Honeyman the Sixth at noon today for #IPADay — the national “holiday’ celebrating IPAs. This is the sixth in Comrade’s Honeyman series, a research-and-development beer with an evolving hop bill, where they “test out new and experimental hop varieties,” the brewery says. “Beautiful bright golden straw color with a crisp and dry finish. Hopped with Galaxy, Mosaic, Lemondrop and Hallertau Blanc. 5.9 percent ABV.”

Spangalang Brewery will tap two new beers today. Sonny is a dry-hopped petite Saison that was aged on Brettanomyces. At 4.5 percent ABV, it is “very refreshing and dry with a moderate Brett character,” the brewery says. Spangalang will also tap an amber lager, brewed in the tradition of a German Marzen. “This beer is full bodied and bursting with malt character, and comes in at 5.8 percent ABV.”

Black Shirt Brewing will tap a reserved keg of its Blood Orange Double IRA today in honor of IPA Day. Made with heaps of in-season blood oranges, fermented for five months, and dry hopped with Mosaic, the red-colored beer packs a clean, citrus-y, hoppy punch.

Friday, August 7

Bull & Bush will celebrate its 44th anniversary, as it always does, with music from the Samples at 9 p.m. and lots and lots of beer. Tickets are $19.71 (the year the Bull & Bush was founded) and are available at bullandbush.com.

Jensen Cummings (formerly of TAG, Row 14 and Slotted Spoon) was one of the first chefs in Denver to become both a sommelier and a Cicerone (the beer world’s equivalent). Now he’s started a new project along with a collective of chefs and brewers called Brewed Food and will hold a series of beer and food pairings at brewery taprooms over August and September, typically pairing one dish with two styles of beers. The first takes place from 4 to 7 p.m. tonight at Crooked Stave. It includes Char Siu Hampshire Pork Belly / Saison yeast won bok, barrel aged hoisin BBQ with Vieille Artisanal Saison and HopSavant Amarillo. It costs $8.

Copper Kettle will tap its Bourbon Barrel Aged Berlinerweisse today at noon. “This tart, refreshing German wheat has been aged in bourbon barrels for a couple months, and has notes vanilla, coconut, and lemon,” the brewery says. Tony Guacamole Food Truck will be on hand.

Written by: Jonathan Shikes